Barrier fencing to be erected on trail where 5-year-old fatally struck, city says

Barrier fencing will be erected along a section of the trail where a five-year-old boy was stuck and killed after falling off his bicycle last week, the city announced Friday.

The move comes after an onsite investigation carried out by the city earlier this week. Investigators called for a number of measures to be implemented on the section of the Martin Goodman Trail, including improved signage and pavement markings for trail users and drivers.

In a release issued Friday, Coun. Jay Robinson, chair of the city's Public Works Committee, said the fencing will provide added security for both cyclists and pedestrians. Temporary fencing was installed earlier Friday, Robinson said.

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In the meantime, a large group of cyclists on Saturday is expected to ride en masse, slowly, but surely, to the spot where Xavier Morgan died on Toronto's Lake Shore Boulevard.

Toronto resident Geoffrey Bercarich has made a ghost bike for Xavier. He will lock it to a nearby post and give the keys to Xavier's aunt and uncle who are expected to be there, he says. The family can take the bike down if the memorial proves too painful.

Then the group — organized by the Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists — is expected to form a human-bike barrier between the roadway and the trail where Xavier was riding. It will symbolize the simple fix the city can make on that portion of the Martin Goodman Trail that is barrier-free and next to the busy road. 

Xavier is so far the only cyclist to die this year in Toronto. Last year, one person died. There were four deaths in 2015, three in 2014 and four in 2013, according to Toronto police.

Between Jan. 1 and May 18, there have been 174 collisions between cyclists and motor vehicles, according to Toronto police data. There were 206 such incidents over the same time period last year. And those numbers don't include doorings, cyclist versus cyclist, or cyclist versus pedestrian crashes.

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